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Oh Rochester!


RPM

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Yes Boss?

I'm into nostalgia media. Instead of listening to Bon Jovi for the 6000th time, I listen to old radio programs before TV got going. I dig "theater of the mind". There's great drama, cop stories and comedies. Makes an hour commute fly by.

There was some pretty remarkable talent back then that made huge impressions on today. Undeniably two of the biggest were Jack Benny and his ever faithful valet Rochester. Jack really defined the 30 minute comedy/variety show and always made the audience feel like they were part of any inside jokes and understood Jack was the cheapest/greediest human on the planet. Always at the end, Jack was the heel and butt of the joke. He was a comedic genius. Although Rochester Van Jones (Eddie Anderson) was Jack's servant that he won in a car wreck settlement from Amos and Andy, he usually wound up getting the better of Jack in most situations. Rochester also had a penchant for loose women, gin, straight razors and dice (not necessarily in that order) but he was always faithful to Jack. The running straight razor joke ended when Jack complained and the more seedy/racist elements of Rochester stopped as well. This was in the mid 1940's, people! Quite a milestone for equality.

In real life they were very close friends and Jack was years ahead of the civil rights movement. He once moved his entire touring troupe (over 50 rooms) out of a hotel in St. Joseph, Mo because they refused to give Eddie a room. 

Eddie had his own personal highlights. Suffering from strained vocal chords working as a newspaper boy in San Francisco he had an unmistakable voice. He also had unmistakable timing and delivery. Eddie was elected "Mayor of Central Ave" because of his national popularity by both blacks and whites from his radio persona. Before the NAACP was established Mayor of Central Ave was pretty much the highest national spokesman for African Americans. He left his home as a halfway house for substance abusers ("The Rochester House").

Times and culture have changed. A LOT. But if you look into the relationship these two guys had and the respect they held for each other, the comedy is timeless. The racism is minimal to non-existent. Jack always treated Eddie as an equal. They were a team.

Below are a couple skits from the later years drastically toned down for TV.

You want to hear the gold, listen to the radio shows like this one when Jack remembers meeting Rochester:

(For the record, I'm not endorsing Amos and Andy. Rochester outsmarts them as well.)

 

I might be old, but I know funny when I hear it.

I heared it.

Edited by RPM
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Incidentally, at the end of the radio clip you hear Mary Livingstone flub he line and say gas reek instead of grease rack. Mary suffered from late onset stage fright and this error was a huge setback for her. She had "laryngitis" quite regularly after this.

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